fear online
by manga pen
Summary: Satan and his demons are still looking for sufficient sources of magic in Japan, so Urushihara proposes a plan. he suggests that they use the virtual world of sword art online by scaring players in order to collect fear, but when they enter the game, they find that not only are they are trapped, but Maou recognizes the person behind it. (better than it sounds, i suck at summaries.)
1. Chapter 1

Lucifer scrolled down the shopping page, sighing happily as he found the listing. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping the light from the screen wouldn't wake Satan or Ashiya. Turning back to the screen, he hovered his mouse over the orange purchase button. Only four minutes before it was released. Lucifer shifted his weight, and cringed as he heard the floor creak under him. He took a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure that he hadn't woken his room mates. His attention fixed back on the screen, as he began clicking his mouse repeatedly to be sure that he got at least one copy of the game, as well as the nerve gear that came with it. He counted down the seconds in his head as the orange icon turned green. He started clicking his mouse vigorously. After what seemed like an instant the 'add to cart' button turned grey. The game had sold out. Lucifer took a deep breath, and clicked on his cart. He scrolled down the page, and saw that he had managed to get 11 copies of the game and nerve gear. He sighed in relief. Then he felt someone grab him by the shoulder.

"Lucifer, What are you-" Ashiya started. Then his gaze fixed on the screen. His eyes widened in rage, as he looked at the price of the objects he was ordering. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!? HIS LIEGE CANNOT AFFORD SUCH THINGS!" Ashiya screamed at Lucifer.

Maou groaned and sat up from behind them. "Calm down or you'll wake up the land lady. What is it?" Maou asked, and sat next to Lucifer. His eyes narrowed. "I hope you realize that you're going to have to delete those," he hissed.

"Hear me out first. This game is unbelievably real, and-"

Ashiya cut him off, "His Liege and I care not of what quality this item is!"

Lucifer put out a hand to silence him.

Ashiya narrowed his eyes.

"Anyway, as you might imagine, you can die in here. And when you do, it's really freaky until you get used to it. My point being, we should be able to score some magic in there, easy. Also, no-one has to get hurt."

Maou pondered this. It also meant that he wouldn't have to spend all his magic fixing the mess that had given it to him in the first place. Only one problem… "Okay, but how do we know that our powers would work in the game?" he asked, skeptical.

"They worked when I tried it," Lucifer said bluntly.

Ashiya's ears pricked up. "And when exactly did you try this game?" he demanded.

"Few months ago when you two weren't paying attention to me," he answered.

Ashiya was about to say something when Lucifer added,

"The demo was free, calm down."

"Okay… but there's still no way we can afford this," Maou continued.

Lucifer smiled. "Don't worry, lucky for you two I managed to get my hands on more than one copy," He said.

"So?" Ashiya asked harshly.

"So, these are expensive today… but just wait until tomorrow. The price will easily triple, and with a few extra copies, that leaves us with the money in the bank," Lucifer continued, and smiled smugly, leaning back onto his computer desk.

Ashiya crouched in front of the screen, skeptically. He opened a new tab, and hesitated.

"It's called Sword Art Online," Lucifer supplied.

Ashiya carefully picked out the letters on the keyboard, one at a time.

Lucifer groaned, and pushed Ashiya's hands out of the way. He typed the name of the game into the window, before clicking on a video link, and putting it on full screen. It showed a reporter outside a Game Shack, the first store to get the game.

"This is Kami Ren, and I am here at the Game Shack, interviewing the people here waiting to get the new game Sword Art Online," the camera scanned the sidewalks, lined with tents, chairs, and people who looked like they might pass out any second.

She pointed her microphone at a guy in his 20s waiting near the front of the line.

"So, how much, on a scale of one to ten, do you want this game?" she asked him.

"42," he answered. They laughed, until she moved on to the next question.

"And tell me, how long, have you been camping out to get this game?" she asked.

"Four days," he answered.

The reporter turned back to the camera, and smiled. "This is Kami Ren, signing out," she said.

The TV station's logo showed on the screen, before it went black.

"Told you," Lucifer said.

((-Future-))

"One thing I don't understand is, if the game is so popular, how did you manage to get 11 copies?" Ashiya asked as they unpacked the boxes with the nerve gear in them.

"Never underestimate a demon with a high speed mouse," Lucifer answered, and held up one of the helmets to look at.

They turned to the door as a harsh knock pounded against it.

Maou answered it, unsurprised to see the hero.

"Hi Emi, come in," he told her, and stepped out of the way.

The Hero Emilia walked through the entryway and scanned the room carefully. Her eye caught on the boxes. "What are those?" she asked, skeptical.

"Ever heard of the game 'Sword Art Online'?" Lucifer asked.

Emi narrowed her eyes. "No," she answered, and crossed her arms. "Hmm…" she trailed off, and picked up a piece of nerve gear from a box. "First game I've seen in the form of a motorcycle helmet," she commented, and tossed it back in the box.

"Hey! Those things are expensive!" Maou told her.

Emi rolled her eyes.

Lucifer sat down at the computer, posting the extra gear online. "Hey, Ashiya, How much do you want to sell these for?" he asked

"How much can we get away with?" Ashiya asked.

"At least $2,000, depending on the competitors' prices," Lucifer answered.

"Wait, are you serious?" Emi asked.

"Yup."

"Hmm… okay then, $2,000!" Ashiya shouted.

Lucifer sighed, and turned back to Ashiya. "You do realize that's the bare minimum, right?" he asked.

Ashiya pondered this. "What was the original price again?"

"Nine hundred something dollars," Lucifer answered.

"Okay… $4,000!"

"Sure," Lucifer responded and typed the price in. He rolled his shoulders and picked up a helmet.

"Ready to try these things out?" Maou asked.

Lucifer smiled, and plugged his in.

Maou followed his lead, and sat down.

"Remind me why we're allowing Lucifer to play," Ashiya said.

"I know how the game works," Lucifer told him, and put his gear on.

Ashiya didn't respond, and instead turned to Emi, careful to watch her.

Lucifer sighed, and closed his eyes. "Link, start!" he said into the helmet. The mechanics began whirring, as multicolored light flashed around him.

He signed into his account from when he had demoed the game. The image blurred as it took him to the virtual world. He found himself in a town square, other players forming around him. He grinned, and clicked on the main menu. He went to 'find player', and searched the name 'Maou'. His face popped up. He clicked Maou's Icon, and teleported to him.

Maou jumped as Lucifer formed next to him. "Oh, Hi," he said awkwardly.

"If you want to cause chaos and get magic and stuff, may I suggest the nearest village? Not to mention we can get some cash there," Lucifer told him.

Maou frowned. "okay," he decided.

Lucifer frowned, looking the demon king up and down, remembered that he was new to this. "Actually, scratch that, we should start training, we have advanced durability thanks to our strength in real life, so we shouldn't have too much to worry about… still come on, you should get to know how it works a little more," Lucifer told him, and started towards the nearest field.

((-IRL-))

Ashiya sliced up cucumbers, starting to prepare a meal, while watching Emi leaning against the wall, daydreaming.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Ashiya asked her.

"Nope," she answered.

He sighed, and continued cutting. Ashiya cringed as the knife nicked the tip of his thumb. "Now what am I going to do with this?" he asked, and turned his finger as blood began to form at the tip. He jumped as the phone on the wall began to ring.

Emi instinctively reached for it, then pulled back, reminding herself that she wasn't at her own home.

Ashiya picked it up, placing the knife on the counter. "Hello?" he asked.

"I understand that you have someone in your household who is currently playing sword art online," a voice spoke in an uncanny tone.

"Yes..."

"I wish to inform you that under no circumstance are you to remove their nerve gear. The helmet will submit an electromagnetic wave, and kill them,"

"what?!" Ashiya asked, stunned.

"Who is it?" Emi asked.

Ashiya ignored her, and kept his focus on the phone.

"They may be killed in the game, and if this happens, the same electromagnetic wave will destroy their brain," the voice continued.

Ashiya turned to where Maou and Lucifer lay, mortified.

The person on the other line hung up.

Ashiya dropped the phone, and walked over to his master.

"Ashiya? Who was that? Emi asked again.

Ashiya swallowed, and turned back to the hero, and explained what he had heard on the phone.

((-Short Future-))

They sat there in silence.

"You know, I bet I could track down the game developer and force him to shut this thing down," Emi offered.

Ashiya swallowed.

The crease between Emi's eyes narrowed as she began to realize something. If it was true that people who died in the game were killed in real life… The Hero's eyes widened. This game was more than just a death trap now. It had the devil playing for Christ's sake! Emi began to feel sick. All these people were in danger.

And so is Maou.

She shook the thought off, her gaze slowly drifting to Ashiya, hands covering his face in greif. Biting her lip, she picked up a helmet, plugged it in, and forced it over her head.

(Thank you so much for reading! Honestly, comments are my main motivating force, so please! Tell me what you thought!)


	2. Chapter 2

Maou bit his lip, gripping the sword Lucifer had given him, the small bear cub growling at him. Maou let out his breath, and swiped at the bear. The sword sliced across its maw.

The creature growled, and reared up before tackling Maou.

"Um… you know you're armed, right?" Lucifer asked as the tiny bear knocked Maou to the ground.

"_Of course _I do! Now, do me a favor and_ get it off!" _Maou hissed through clenched teeth, as he held the sword across his chest, using it to keep the bear of his neck.

Lucifer sighed, and stood over Maou. He rammed his blade into the back of the bear's head. It stiffened, and dissolved into pixilated light. Maou stood up and rubbed his hands on his pants.

"Would you mind explaining why you can take on demons, priests, heroes, and angels, but not a bear cub?" Lucifer asked.

Maou sighed, and sat down on the grass.

"I have a much easier time fighting things that are actually _alive…_ I can sense someone's weaknesses through their movements and hesitations… but these things don't seem to have any. It's unsettling I guess-" Maou was cut off as the momma bear rammed into Lucifer, growling. Maou lashed out on instinct, and sliced his sword along its side. Its health went down almost halfway.

Lucifer cursed, and rammed his blade into its neck. The bear gagged, and dissolved. He stood, and brushed off his sleeve.

Maou relaxed and sighed.

"God, now I remember why I hate bears," Lucifer said, and sheathed his sword. "You were saying something?" He asked, and looked up at Maou.

"Never mind," Maou replied.

Lucifer shrugged, and studied the field in front of him. He blinked, remembering something. He clicked on his menu.

"What do you want to name our guild?" Lucifer asked, clicking the icon. Maou frowned.

"Guild?" He asked.

"Think of it as an assault team," Lucifer answered. Maou frowned. He sighed, and leaned back.

"Midnight Embers," The demon king said at last. Lucifer nodded, and typed in the name, then went to 'invite'. Maou hesitated, and clicked 'join'. Lucifer looked up at a hill.

"Well, if we're going to get anywhere with this, lets find some more stuff to kill," Lucifer suggested, and started climbing the hill. Maou sighed and followed him. Lucifer stood from his perch on the peak of the hill. Scanning over the area, he spread his dark wings.

"Lucifer! Don't use your magic now!" Maou shouted up at him.

"Calm down, we can get tons in this place," Lucifer told the demon king as he lifted himself off the ground. He turned away from Maou, and flew higher up into the sky, spotting the nearest forest. His eye caught on a pair of players slowly walking up the field. He hovered in mid air for a second to look over his shoulder at the demon king slowly making his way down the hill. Lucifer turned his back towards Maou and dove back to the ground. Then a sword flew by his face. He grit his teeth, and flew upwards. Looking back at the players, he narrowed his eyes, and dove towards them, pulling out his sword. One of them stood in front of the other and put his hands up. Lucifer landed, hesitant to attack.

"I'm sorry!" the one in the back screamed. He had reddish hair, and a bandana over his forehead. The other had navy blue eyes, and a decent looking sword.

"Are you okay? We're really sorry, my friend here mistook you for a monster," one apologized. Lucifer sighed.

"It's fine," He said at last.

"My name's Kirito, this is Klein. Sorry, again," Kirito said.

"So, I assume that you're a beta tester? I mean, with those sick wings and everything," Klein commented.

"Yeah, I am," Lucifer answered, sliding his swords back in. "My name's Lucifer," He introduced himself.

Klein pursed his lips into a confused smile at the name. He shrugged it off as his gamer tag.

Kirito narrowed his eyes, scanning his eyes over the wings. It was about as easy to get wings as it was growing a second head- the game wasn't programed to offer additional body parts. He frowned, puzzled.

"HEY! Lucifer! What happened?" Maou shouted, and ran to his friend.

"Nothing important, this is Kirito and Klein," Lucifer answered, nodding to the two players.

"What are your plans-" Kirito was cut off as a flash of bluish light appeared, a character forming in front of him. Maou frowned, and looked in front of him to see Emilia.

"EMI!?" He shouted, surprised.

She groaned, and sat down. "_I really hate you sometimes,"_ Emi mumbled, and slumped.

"Wait- what did I do?" Maou asked.

Emi looked up at Maou, depressed. She parted her lips, the words forming in her throat.

\\\\\

They all sat there in silence, after Emi explained the situation.

"_Kayaba… what did he…" _Kirito whispered, and grit his teeth.

"And you followed us here… _why_ exactly?" Maou asked. Emi scoffed.

"_Because _I cant have a pair of demons from hell go into a game where they can murder thousands upon thousands of innocent people!" Emi shouted. Klein gagged as Kirito frowned, eyes drifting to Maou.

"Don't mind her, she just likes to insult us like that…" Maou trailed off in a nervous laugh.

"Yeah… I hate them a lot…" Emi said honestly. Kirito's expression softened.

"Anyway, any ideas on how to survive?" Maou added, desperate to change the subject.

"I mean… we could just… " Klein trailed off, clicking his menu. Sure enough, there was no log out button. He groaned, and collapsed back on the ground.

"Wait… I have a double shift tomorrow!" Maou said, remembering his job.

"Oh, come on! You're trapped in a death game and you're worried about your stupid job!?" Emi shouted, annoyed.

Kirito stared at the ground, frustrated. There had to be some trick to this. Kayaba wouldn't make it so simple- you're trapped, end of story. Because then it wouldn't be a game. he sighed, his gaze drifting to Lucifer and his wings.

"Hey, Lucifer, where'd you get those?" Kirito asked, and nodded towards the dark wings sprouting out of Lucifer's back. Lucifer swallowed.

"Uh… Treasure Chest," He lied, scratching the back of his head.

"Is that so," Kirito said, unimpressed. Lucifer ignored him, and looked up at the sky. It was getting dark, so more dangerous monsters would be coming out. He took a deep breath, letting the chilled air wash over him.

Maou went to his menu, and clicked 'Join Guild.' He displayed the menu to Emi. She scoffed.

"As if I would join forces with you!" She shouted, appalled. He raised an eyebrow. She sighed, and clicked _join. _The menu dissolved. Maou studied Kirito and Klein. He didn't want to get too close to those guys; he doubted that it was worth it. His thoughts shifted back to the game.

"Okay, we need a plan," Maou said, staring at the forest in the distance.

"Says who? We could just live in some village, and not do anything stupid- not to mention I have some friends in here too, we could all team up and start a pretty decent life," Klein suggested.

Maou smiled grimly. "You really think that would work?" He asked, meeting Klein's eyes. "The game master put us in here because he wants to play with us. If the battleground settles, the monsters will come to us. He wants us to lose, simple as that. If we're weak, we might as well be dead," Maou told him darkly. Klein blinked, a lump forming in his throat.

"Lucifer, Emilia and I all have a pretty decent amount of experience as far as fighting is concerned, so I'd say that our abilities combined… we should be able to take on a good amount of monsters. How are you guys?" He asked, and looked up at Klein.

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm a noob at this… so I doubt that I could take on much of anything right now," Klein said sheepishly.

Maou nodded, and turned to Kirito.

"I'm a beta tester, so I know this place okay," Kirito said casually, a small smile forming in the corners of his mouth.

Maou rested his head on his hands in thought. "So, I assume that there are pretty powerful creatures in the woods," He said, looking up at Lucifer.

"Yeah, especially at night," Lucifer confirmed.

Maou pulled out his sword, and turned it in the light. He could potentially turn it into his sacred sword, but there was no saying how much magic that in itself would use up.

"You guys know where we could get some better weapons?" Maou asked.

"Yeah, if we can get back to town we should be able to upgrade-"

Lucifer was cut off as a bell began to ring in the distance. They stared at the place it was coming from. The square.

"What is that-" Emi was cut off as the world dissolved in pixilated colors.

Maou's eyes widened, startled, as the world brought itself back together. He found himself back in the square, heart beat pounding in his chest. Lucifer formed next to him, followed by Emi, Klein and Kirito.

"Hey, what the heck just happened?" Emi demanded.

"A forced teleport," Kirito answered, not meeting her eyes.

A shiver ran up Maou's back, feeling the panic around him, as it began turning to magic in his system. He grit his teeth, and tried to keep himself from transforming. Emi latched her gaze on him, clenching her fists.

Maou swallowed, looking up at the sky, his eyes glowing red. Klein looked at him, concerned.

"You okay?" He asked.

Maou nodded, forcing the magic into his core. The red glow from his eyes faded. He met Klein's gaze, and smiled, reassuring him.

"Okay…" Klein trailed off.

Maou loosened his shoulders in relief. Then he was practically thrown over by a huge wave of new founded fear and panic. _Damn it…_ He trailed off in his head as his horns began to sprout from his skull. He held his hands over his head, using some of his magic to hide them and force them back into his skull.

"Maou?" Klein asked again.

Kirito frowned. His attention fixed on the sky. A single red hexagon sat directly above them. The crease between Kirito's eyes tightened. In an instant, more began running down the sky.

Maou felt even more terror and confusion around him. Gritting his teeth, he contained the power under his skin.

Emi looked up in disgust, to see red ooze seeping through cracks in the pattern that had formed across the sky. The ooze collected together, and began to form a cloaked figure.

Lucifer studied the figure forming, recognition forming on his face. He and Maou exchanged a glance, and looked back to the man now looming over the crowd.

Emi narrowed her eyes, summoning some celestial force to her hand.

Kirito looked over the three, each in turn, his gaze then returning to the figure as it began to speak.

"Attention players," It began.

Emi scowled, clenching her fists.

"I welcome you, to my world,"

Kirito stared up at him, anger building in his heart.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world," He continued.

Emi growled, and summoned her sword, her pink hair becoming silky white.

Kirito locked his gaze on her, eyes wide.

"_What da flip-" _Klein whispered, eyes fixed on her.

"Please tell me that's not who I think it is," Emi hissed at Maou, teeth clenched.

He swallowed. "Malacoda,"

"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus… the log out button," The game master said to the crowd.

Lucifer sneered, and launched himself into the air, leveling himself with Malacoda's face.

The crowd's focus shifted to the winged player.

Malacoda registered the demon in front of him. He continued, ignoring Lucifer, not wanting to appear weak, or ruin his introduction. The game master summoned his menu, and displayed it for the crowd.

Lucifer scowled.

"Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game-"

"HEY! MALICODA, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Lucifer shouted. T

he game master continued to treat Lucifer like an annoying fruit fly.

Lucifer groaned.

"Lucifer! Get down from there!" Maou shouted.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and dove back to earth.

"Well, he recognized me at least for a second," Lucifer managed, landing on the cobblestone.

Maou scowled turning back to the figure.

"Despite my warnings, some of the families have attempted removing the nerve gear. An unfortunate mistake to say the least," Malacoda continued.

The fear of the crowd seemed to become thicker as the game master's words began to sink in.

Maou narrowed his eyes. If Malacoda ignored Lucifer, odds were he wouldn't acknowledge the presence of demon king, either. He honestly doubted that the general would endanger himself also, so Maou couldn't successfully attack him.

"There are now 213 less players then when the game began," Malacoda added.

"_213," _Kirito whispered.

Klein's gaze turned to the ground, as if in a moment of silence for the deceased.

Malacoda clicked something, and several articles and pictures appeared in front of him.

Murmurs, and whispers rippled across the crowd.

"As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths,"

"So…I guess Malacoda found a gate, and got into the game industry… how do you figure that happened?" Lucifer asked.

Kirito frowned. "What the heck are you _talking _about?"

Lucifer and Emi exchanged a glance. They each looked at Maou.

He shook his head, no.

"Stuff," Lucifer told him.

Kirito frowned. He didn't appreciate being left out of the loop.

"Yeah, do you know that guy?" Klein asked, and pointed back up at the game master.

"Um… I mean… uh… no?" Maou lied.

Klein groaned, frustrated. "Okay, what exactly is going on here?" He asked.

Maou pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's nothing you need to worry about," He told Klein.

"Okay, well Guess what, I'm worried," Klein hissed.

"Would you guys _shut up?!" _A girl with dark hair hissed. She turned back to Malacoda.

"There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Now you are gathered on floor one; the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon, and defeat the boss, you can advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100, and you will clear the game," He explained.

"_We can't clear all hundred floors… that's freaking impossible…" _Klein whispered, his attention drifting from the group.

"Speak for yourself," Lucifer said, eyes locked on the game master.

"Last but not least… I placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look," He said.

Lucifer frowned, and clicked his inventory. He blinked, and clicked on the small mirror. It formed in his hand. He held it up to his face, his slit eyes beginning to glow as panic rose around him. He saw Kirito dissolve into blue light.

Kirito's stomach dropped as the world became pixilated, dissolving. Heart pounding, he screwed his eyes shut as the world began to reform around him. He gripped the mirror, catching a glance of his reflection. His real reflection. Kirito let the mirror slip out of his hand, dropping on the ground and shattering into blue light. His eyes fixed on Lucifer, who seemed unaffected.

Lucifer had decided to go with the default of his real face because he was too lazy to play dress up with a new appearance. His eyes fixed on a player next to him, staring at him, panicked.

"Kirito?" He asked. Kirito swallowed. "Yeah," he answered, looking around him at the unfamiliar faces surrounding him. Someone tapped Lucifer's shoulder.

Lucifer turned to see… Klein? He seemed different, but the headband gave him away. Klein was about to say something when the game master began to speak again.

"Right now, you're probably wondering 'why'? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of nerve gear and sword art online do this?"

Lucifer sighed.

"_Maou… you have any idea how this guy got through the gate?" _Emi asked.

"_Well, first off, I thought you killed him," _Maou whispered back.

"_I __**did**__! I blew up his entire military base, there's no way he survived that," _She hissed.

"_Was he actually __**on**__ the military base?" _Maou asked.

"OF COURSE HE WAS!" Emi shouted at him. The people around them looked at her. She cleared her throat.

"_I mean, __**yes**__, me and my army chased him inside, and surrounded him. There's no way he escaped! Unless he… damn it, he must have opened up a gate before he got blown up, the coward!" _The hero growled, and slapped herself on the forehead. Maou's ears pricked up at a very familiar sound.

"SIRE!" he heard from behind him.

"Don't tell me…" He turned around to see Ashiya, in his demon form, weaving his way through the crowd towards Maou.

"My lord, please forgive the delay, it was merely impossible to locate you- until I saw Lucifer fly into the sky, giving away your location," Ashiya told Maou, bending down on one knee.

"Ashiya… you didn't…" Maou trailed off.

"I couldn't simply abandon my liege! Sire, I am here to help, and nothing more," Ashiya told Maou.

Klein blinked. "Did he just call you 'sire'?"

"We take roleplaying very seriously." Lucifer sufficed.

Kirito's eyes fixed on Ashiya's face. He was wearing some dark paint... a bit of a strange choise... his gaze lowered to the long scorpion tail curling from his tailbone. Okay, wings were pushing it, but a scorpion tail? No. There was no way a player could get their hands on one of those, and attach it to their body. "Okay, tell me something. Who are you?" Kirito demanded.

Maou swallowed. "Um… Maou," he answered.

Kirito scoffed. "Not your name. Who are _you_?" He asked.

"Well, I'm 'A' level staff at the MgRonalds near Saturuki Train Station," Maou said proudly, dodging the question.

Kirito swallowed. "Okay... and?" He asked.

"Yeah! And what was with the glowing red eyes earlier?" Klein asked.

Maou looked up as Malacoda began to sink back into the sky. More panic rose in the streets. Maou growled.

_Screw it,_ he thought, and let some of the magic into his system. His eyes began to glow again.

"Come on, it's over," Maou said in a voice that seemed deeper, and distorted. He walked down the street. The demons and the hero followed him.

"_Klein, come on," _Kirito whispered, and trailed Maou. he waited until they were out of earshot from the rest of the players, before crossing his arms and continuing his confrontation. "Okay, I want to know _now. What is going on?" _Kirito demanded.

Emi sighed."Trust me, its not worth it," She told him.

He sighed, and bit the inside of his cheek.

"We're players, just like you," Maou tried to convince him.

"Yeah… but… you're not are you? You recognized the game maker, and on a personal level. Who are you- for real?" Kirito asked again.

"After you," Maou said.

Kirito frowned.

"I get the vibe that you're not an average player either. So, _Kirito_, you tell us all of your secrets and who you are, and you get to know who _we _are," Maou bargained.

Kirito swallowed. He sighed, and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm not exactly an ordinary player… when I got the demo, I played constantly. I have more information than most beta testers combined- I know this whole place like the back of my hand," He said. "Okay, now your turn. Who are you?" Kirito asked.

Maou chuckled. "One more thing-" He clicked his Menu, and went to 'Join guild'. The blue and red buttons appeared.

Kirito hesitated. He hadn't wanted to join any guilds before because he figured in the end, he would probably just be pulling the other players' dead weight… but these guys seemed to have too much pride to let that happen for one thing- and they also seemed pretty powerful, not to mention determined.

He sighed, and clicked _join. _The devil smiled.

Kirito looked at Maou expectantly. The demon king sighed, and bit his lip, trying to decide how to explain this. It was easier with Chi because she had seen him doing some serious magic… He decided to start with the basics.

"The name 'Maou' is fake. I'm actually Satan… funny story actually-"

"Wait Satan as in _the Devil!?" _ Klein demanded from his hiding space behind a corner.

"Heh, heh… uh… yeah, about that… well, actually-"

"Don't worry, he can't do anything to you. For one, he's one of the wimpiest demons that you'll ever meet, and second, I'm actually a hero. I followed him into this death game so that I could keep an eye on him. Like I said, you have nothing to worry about," Emi added with a smile.

Klein's eyelid twitched. He grit his teeth, and took a step away from them. "Okay, I'll be honest with you. I don't exactly have time for demons. Like I mentioned earlier, I have some friends, and they're back at the square. My top priority is them, so if you don't mind, I have to go," He said rather sternly.

Maou kept a solid gaze with him. Klein let go of his breath, and turned around, running back to the square.

Maou watched him go. One less player in this guild would make things easier. He sighed, and turned back to Kirito who looked like he was prepared to defend an attack.

"You know, for a demon king, he's not very demonic," Lucifer added. Ashiya turned to him.

"You see here, his liege is slowly taking over this world through the fast food industry! He is plenty demonic!" Ashiya defended Maou.

Kirito studied the group… if they were demons it would explain a lot. He felt a terrible sense of fear nagging inside him.

Kirito had not only joined a Guild. He had joined a guild with the devil.

(Oh, and please Comment, I love hearing what you guys think! follow/fav for more!)


	3. Chapter 3

Kirito stared at the ceiling of his room as he lay down on his bed. He held his his hand in front of his face. He felt frustratingly numb. If his life was on the line, why did it feel like such an illusion? His eyes softened. Kirito sat up, and unsheathed his sword. Gripping it, he slowly stood. In one flowing move, he stepped forward, striking the air. A surge of power ran through his veins. A small smile formed in the corners of his mouth. His sister would be proud of him… at least he thought so. Kirito actually wished that she was here right now, though it was selfish of him, he felt like this would be easier if someone he knew was in the game with him. Someone he could undoubtedly trust. Kirito lowered his sword to his side. He still had a guild… but he didn't belong. He knew that much. It just felt so lonely0. Kirito's ears pricked up as someone knocked on his door.

"Come in," he said, just loud enough for Emi to hear. The door let out a soft creak as she slowly opened it.

"You okay? We were wondering if you were coming down to eat," she told him, walking in.

Kirito met her eyes as she raised her eyebrow a little, smiling. He swallowed.

Emi scanned his face, trying to read his thoughts. She did her best to choose her next words carefully, not quite sure what was on his mind.

"I won't tell you to ignore what Maou is… but trust me when I say that he won't hurt you. He didn't invite you to join the guild just to kill you off," Emi told him. Kirito bit the inside of his cheek.

"So… you gonna come down and eat now, or what?" Emi asked. Kirito sighed.

"Maybe later," he answered, turning away from her to look out the window. Emi sighed.

"_Fine_. Just let us know when you're ready to talk," she told him, disappointed, and walked out the door, closing it behind her. Emi walked downstairs, the floorboards groaning as she stepped on the old wood. It was kinda funny. She almost felt like she was back in Enta Isla. The lantern light reminded her of her old house. She could almost feel the straw scratching against her cheek, as she thought back to when she had spent the night in the barn reading. A soft smile formed on her lips, the memories making her feel warm and fuzzy. Her gaze shifted to the table where the three demons were sitting. She approached them, noticing that her food had arrived, and slid into her seat.

"Hey, how's Kirito doing?" Maou asked, glancing up at her.

Emi sighed. "Well, he's alive. Though, I get the feeling that he wants to be alone," she answered.

"Oh really," Lucifer said, slightly sarcastic.

"Oh, will you just shut up?" Emi growled, annoyed.

"Maybe he'll come down for breakfast," Maou said, looking back up at the stairs.

"I honestly wouldn't count on it. Kirito seems pretty unsettled by you guys," Emi commented.

"And what about you?" Lucifer asked Emi, poking his meal with his fork, not meeting her eyes.

Emi scowled. "Well of course he's not as scared of me, I'm at least _half_ human, not to mention angel!" she retorted.

"Is that so," Lucifer said, trying to remind himself that he was in a video game, to keep himself from missing his computer.

"My liege, you seem rather distraught by Kirito's absence," Ashiya said to Maou as Lucifer and Emilia bickered across from them.

"Nah, I'm fine, just a little bit worried. I know that all the stuff that's been going on must take time to sink in, but I doubt that it's just about us entities,"

"I assure you, Kirito shall come around. Time is all this situation calls for," Ashiya assured Maou.

The demon king gave a slight nod in response, staring up at the stairway.

/

Kirito stared out the window, his eyes fixed on a string of lanterns hanging from a shop across from the inn. The golden light danced in his eyes. He found it strange that a demon would be able to create a world so beautiful, even as it was destroying lives. Kirito's thoughts shifted to the guild. He was usually used to feeling superior to others in a team because of his immense gaming skills, but he didn't even compare to the rest of his guild. A half angel, two demon generals, and an overlord. Needless to say, he felt intimidated. Especially by Maou. Kirito slowly stood up. He felt lonely because he felt like he didn't belong… though in some weird way, maybe he did. He might be weaker than the otherworldly beings, but he had befriended them, and powerful allies was always a step up, especially in a dangerous situation like this. Demons or not, Lucifer, Ashiya and Maou had been nothing but welcoming to him. Emi had been kind to him for as long as he had known her. Kirito walked around his bed, across the room.

He hesitated as he reached for the golden doorknob. Sighing, he gripped it, pushing the door open. His eyes adjusted to the golden glow of the lantern light illuminating the hallway. He did trust Emi- to some degree. So he would trust her word, if she said that Maou wouldn't hurt him… then he believed her. His footsteps echoed off the walls as he walked down the hallway to join his guild.

((IRL))

Chiho sniffled, and adjusted the blanket around Maou's motionless body. Ashiya had called her before going into SAO, asking her to care for them in their current state. He wanted to stay out of the hospital… but Chi and her family had enough money to at least give them proper care. She didn't want them in the hospital because she was afraid that if they got magic in the game like they had planned, then they might transform in public. That hadn't happened yet, thankfully. Chi jumped at a knock on the door. Chi carefully walked over to the door and opened it a crack. She sighed in relief. It was Suzuno.

"Come in," Chi said happily, opening the door.

"How is the current state of the demons and hero?" Suzuno asked.

"They seem alright… but I'm still worried. We hired a nurse and doctor to take care of them, and they can't seem to think of much to do except wait," Chi told her. Suzuno nodded.

"Well, I decided to try and physically shut down the game from the outside. If I am successful, all the players trapped should wake up," Suzuno told Chi.

"Okay… why did you tell me?" Chi asked.

"I need you to assist me by using your father's assets to figure out where the game master is," Suzuno told her. Chi frowned.

"Well, my dad has been talking a lot about the incident. But if he knew where Kayaba, the creator of SAO, was hiding, the server would already be shut down,"

A thought occurred to Chi.

"Well… actually, my dad has some ex employees of the game at the police station. They've been in interrogation for a couple days now. You could probably get something out of them if you want," Chi suggested.

Suzuno frowned. "Do you think I could take a look at them tonight?"

Chi nodded a determined glint in her eye.

Suzuno stared out the window, spotting a robin fly from its nest. Her eyes softened. She would get the information she needed. Then she would save her friends.

((SAO))

Emi sighed and leaned against the back of the chair.

Kirito had decided to join them a few minutes ago, and there had been a pretty thorough awkward silence ever since.

She honestly felt sorry for the guy, fitting in with a guild like this wasn't exactly a piece of cake.

Kirito didn't know how he thought this would be a good idea. His bowl of soup sat in front of him, untouched.

"So… Kirito, what's on your mind?" Maou asked, attempting to break the silence.

Kirito shrugged, looking out the window.

Lucifer's ears pricked up as a high-pitched beep clung to the air. Then his main menu appeared, the inbox flashing. Lucifer frowned, and clicked on it. It displayed a new message. He tapped it, the message forming in a hologram before his eyes.

_ Hello. My name is Diabel, and my role is knight. My party and I would humbly wish to invite you/your guild to join me at the stadium ruins, tomorrow at 10:30. We have discovered the boss room, and are gathering as many players as we can find to help us defeat the boss. If we can gather as many players as we hope, there will be no danger. We hope to see you there-_

_Diabel. _

Lucifer blinked. "_His 'role' is knight?" _He whispered, almost amused by this. He wondered when this guy would realize that there's no job system in the game. Lucifer scanned over the words again.

"What is it?" Maou asked.

Lucifer kept his gaze on the message, crossing his arms over his chest. "Someone found the boss room. They want us to help them,"

A dark haze seemed to settle over the table.

Emi parted her lips to speak. "Where do they want us to meet up?" She asked.

"Stadium ruins, 10:30, tomorrow,"

The hero gave a brief nod.

Kirito stared at the ground. "I think we should go. We should help clearing the game in as many ways as possible," he said.

"Indeed, our rent will be due next month, we cannot afford to stay here," Ashiya added.

"Okay, I guess it's settled then. But before we go to the boss room, we need to stock up on more gear," Maou suggested.

Emi frowned, remembering something "Actually… there's something I've been meaning to talk to you guys about…" She clicked her inventory and opened her hand as the small potion bottle formed.

"What's that?" Maou asked.

"It's titled 'Celestial Force' in my inventory, but I have no idea how I got it. Not to mention why Malacoda would even let this stuff exist in 'his world'," She told them. Maou frowned as she handed him the bottle. He clicked his own inventory, surprised to see a ton of new gear. He tapped on a sword, curious. He grit his teeth, his arm weighed down by the huge blade as it formed in his hand. Scanning over it, he found that this was his weapon of choice back in Enta Isla.

"Well, well. It seems that Malacoda is giving us the special treatment," Lucifer commented, scanning over his own inventory.

Ashiya grinned as he clicked on his generals' cape, it forming in his hands.

Kirito frowned, and went to his stock. He was surprised to see tons of coins and healing crystals.

"Well, I can understand him wanting to help you guys out, but why would he give me anything?" Emi asked, confused.

"You are in our guild now, _Hero. _As far as Malacoda is concerned, you're my ally," Maou told her.

A shiver ran up Emi's back. She opened the bottle, and took a quick whiff.

"Still… It could be poison," the demon king warned.

Emi poured a little on her napkin, and dabbed it on her hand. It sank into her skin. She summoned some celestial force to her fingertips. Emi went to her inventory, and got a healing crystal ready. "It seems like the real thing…" she commented, and touched the bottle to her lips. She drained it, the taste purer than water. A shiver ran up her spine.

"Yeah, this is Definitely Celestial force," She said, tossing the flask back on the table.

Lucifer adjusted his new cloak around his shoulders.

"So… forgive me, but does Malacoda wish us alive or dead?" Ashiya asked.

Maou leaned against the back of his chair. "Well, he certainly doesn't want to make us mad. I mean, so say we clear the game. If we find him, he's pretty much screwed. On the other hand, he can't just let us go, or there would be mayhem in the press that some players survived. He's holding everyone in the game hostage, so some of his safety is making sure the police know that he could kill everyone with the click of a button. Letting us go could destroy that, so he's giving us a big advantage to keep us in his best interests. He could just kill us, but then when he eventually went back to Enta Isla, he wouldn't have any allies to help him deal with the church. He might also plan on taking over this world, but it's a big planet. Any form of weaponry that the humans had back in Enta Isla, you know celestial force, sacred swords, giant hammers and what not is pretty much matched by this worlds explosives and firearms. He might not be able to handle it if he has to face the entire planet on his own. In his mind, that's where we come into play. A demon general is nothing without an army, so at the very least he needs a council to leave his loyalties to. So… making sure that we are still allies is probably the best approach in this scenario," Maou answered.

Ashiya nodded.

Kirito swallowed.

"So… you're helping him destroy the real world when all this is over?" He asked quietly.

Maou shrugged.

Kirito narrowed his eyes.

Then Maou's irises began to glow red. His voice broke into Kirito's mind.

_-No way in hell. Oh, and Malacoda is most likely monitoring us, so I would pipe down on the more sensitive subjects.- _Maou said telepathically.

Kirito stiffened, rather startled.

Maou continued eating his food casually.

The others seemed almost as surprised as Kirito, so he assumed that they had heard him too.

Lucifer rested his chin on his hand, continuing the conversation.

"I'm just curious how Malacoda fit into the human world so well. I mean, didn't he have a skull for a head?" he asked.

"He's a used to be a priest of magic, even if the gate didn't turn him into his human form, which I imagine it did, he would be able to figure something out on his own," Maou told Lucifer.

There was another mingling silence as Kirito thought out what to have Maou explain first. He decided to ask a little about Enta Isla, when Maou began to speak.

"I wonder how Chi's doing," he said, staring out the window.

Emi sighed, and crossed her arms.

"I imagine she can't be doing any worse than we are right now," she commented. Ashiya began debating in his head wither or not to explain the situation to Maou. Deciding that it wouldn't be acceptable to keep anything from his king any longer, he began to speak. "I imagine that she's watching us as we speak," Ashiya said rather quietly.

Maou's ears pricked up.

"What-did-you-just-say?" he asked, his temper growing very short. A bead of sweat ran down the back of Ashiya's neck.

"I asked Chi to take care of our bodies in their current state-"

Maou narrowed his eyes. "So what you mean to say is that you asked her to go out of her way to take care of our sleeping bodies instead of sending us to a hospital?" Maou asked Ashiya, clenching his fist.

Ashiya swallowed.

"You _idiot..._ I got a new health insurance plan last week! They would have covered it!" Maou shouted.

Ashiya's eyes widened.

"Oh, gimme a break," Emi said, unimpressed with the demons cheapness, as Ashiya apologized to Maou repeatedly.

Lucifer honestly didn't seem to care, as he scrolled through his inventory, looking at his new stuff.

Kirito stared out the window, at the shop with the lanterns strung across the doorway. His eye caught on a hooded figure in the shop, scrolling through her menu. He frowned, trying to lock eyes with her, but she wouldn't look up. Kirito slowly turned back to face Maou, who had seemed to have let go of his frustration at Ashiya.

"So… you guys want to kill the boss?" Lucifer asked to be sure.

"Of course we do," Emi told him rather dismissively. Lucifer's gaze shifted to Maou.

"Yeah, we do," he answered.

Kirito pursed his lips slightly.

Lucifer went back to his inbox, and clicked the message he had received from Diabel. He clicked reply, and typed in his message;

_We'll be there._

_((Hey guys, sorry for taking so long, my school had a really stressful project on us for the past few weeks so I wasn't able to do any writing. thanks for reading this, I really appreciate it. If you could please leave a comment, that would be very helpful, and motivating, so yeah. Thanks, follow/favorite for more!))_


	4. Chapter 4

Lucifer stared off into space, his head resting on the palm of his hand. He honestly wished that Malacoda hadn't made the sun so bright... he closed his eyes, the after images of light bouncing off the stadium still present in his vision. he slowly opened them again, getting bored with the darkness.

A boy with powdery blue hair stood up and cleared his throat.

Lucifer blinked.

"Okay people! Now that everyone's here, lets get this meeting started. So, first, I wanna thank everyone for coming. My name is Diabel, and the job I role is knight," Diabel announced.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. No-one had told him yet.

The crowd burst into laughter.

"Dude! There's no job system in this game!" someone shouted.

And… there it was. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

Diabel's face turned a deep shade of red. "Do you guys wanna hear this or not?" He demanded, embarrassed.

"Anyway, here's the deal. My party found the boss room is at the top of the tower," Diabel said, cutting to the point.

Lucifer's eyes shifted to the building looming in the distance. His gaze drifted back to Diabel as he began to speak again.

"And I believe that it is our duty as the most capable players to show the people in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game!"

There was a brief silence before people began to clap and cheer.

Emi kept her gaze fixed on the tower, a shiver running up her spine as she remembered being thrown down the side of the Ente Isla version during a battle. Her ears pricked up at Diabel giving directions. She turned to face him.

"We should split up into parties of six, a regular party wont be able to survive on their own," he added. Maou frowned, scanning over his guild. There were only five of them. He dismissed this, for his group was anything but 'regular.'

Kirito crossed his arms, his gaze slowly shifting to a hooded figure sitting by herself in the corner of the stands.

"Hey," he said, and nudged Maou with his elbow.

Maou's gaze shifted to the girl. Maou frowned, glancing at her. he hesitated, turning his attention back to Kirito. The demon King sighed and stood. She didn't look up at him as he walked over to her.

"you look lonely," Maou commented. She started to look up, but then decided to keep her gaze on the ground.

"That's okay," Asuna said.

Maou raised an eyebrow."well, our party needs one more if you want to join," he offered.

Asuna turned to look at the guild. Her eyes locked with Kirito's. She wanted to join a party… it was better than being alone… but she had to tread cautiously. There was no telling who these people really were.

Emi rolled her eyes, stood and walked over. "Maou, stop making her uncomfortable. Hi, my name's Emi Yusa, It's nice to meet you," Emi said, and reached out her hand to shake Asuna's.

Asuna hesitated, and accepted the guesture. "I'm Asuna."

"Well then, Asuna, how would you like to form a party with us?" Emi asked and smiled.

The girl looked at the ground. "Okay," she said quietly. They didn't seem too dangerous…

Emi grinned.

Asuna slowly stood, as Emi displayed the 'join party' option to her. She clicked agree.

Kirito kept his attention on her, glad to have another human in the party. His ears pricked up at the sound of someone shouting at the crowd. He frowned, and turned to the noise. Someone was ranting about the beta testers. He honestly didn't want to listen, or care. A lump formed in his throat. he felt a little guilty, even though he knew he had done nothing wrong… but just the sheer amount of anger people felt towards people like him was enough to intimidate anyone. He looked over at Lucifer, who wasn't even looking at the guy, just tinkering with his menu. Kirito's eyes softened. Tomorrow was the boss fight. He hoped that no-one would get hurt.

))IRL((

Suzuno stared into the eyes of one of SAO's engineers. He swallowed.

"I am searching for Kayaba, and I believe that you are aware of his whereabouts. Would you care to tell me?" Suzuno asked. The man pursed his lips. Suzuno waited patiently.

"What would you do to me if I said I don't know?" he asked.

"Wait here until you realize that it is in all our best interests if you speak the truth,"

"Well it might be a while in that case, because _I don't know,"_

Suzuno continued staring at him, unmoving and unimpressed.

He swallowed."You're trying to skin a bone here, friend. I don't know where Kayaba went. Why would he tell me anyway? There's no reason for me to know that!" he told Suzuno.

"Indeed. But I believe that you know something, even if it is less useful than the game masters whereabouts. So you are going to inform me," Suzuno said, the man testing her patience.

He sighed. "Listen lady, I got jail time to burn. you on the other hand probably have other places to be," he told Suzuno.

her eyes softened. If only she had enough celestial force to read his mind... she clenched her fists, trying to break through, and failing. She sighed, and stood.

"Until next time," she told him, and walked out the door.

(-(SAO)-)

Asuna had gone back to the inn with the rest of her party, and had agreed to have dinner with them. Maou didn't really know what to talk about because this arrangement was temporary, he couldn't tell her about their true forms, and that threw several good topics out the window.

"So, I take it that you don't have a guild," Kirito managed. Asuna gave a brief nod from under her hood.

"I hadn't really interacted with other people much before now," she said flatly, and took a bite of her meal. Kirito nodded.

"May I ask why?" he asked. Asuna stared at her lap.

"It's just… no-one reached out to me, and I'm not one to try too hard to make friends," she said quietly.

Kirito's eyes softened. "Yeah… I can kinda relate with you there. But everyone seems to come to me."

Asuna loosened her shoulders. "That must feel nice."

Emi held her hands behind her head and sighed. "So what do you think this boss will be like?" she asked.

Lucifer crossed his arms."I fought this thing in the demo, but it wasn't in the tower. Must've relocated it to keep it a surprise. From what I remember, it was big, red, and fat, with weird horns," he tried to remember right.

Asuna laughed a little. "Like a little devil," she commented.

The blood rushed to Maou's face.

Emi laughed. "Yeah, exactly!" she shouted.

Maou rolled his eyes.

Asuna frowned. Maou seemed a little insulted by her comment, but she couldn't think why… she looked back at her lap.

Kirito sighed. He felt a little sorry for the girl.

Emi looked at the clock. If the rules that Emeralda had given her still applied here, then she should probably have some… She went to her inventory, and summoned one of the flasks to her hand.

"What's that?" Asuna asked.

"Oh, what this stuff? It's… just a magic skill enhancer,"

Asuna frowned. "I thought magic wasn't on the skill list…" she commented, and went to her menu to double check. Maou shot Emi a glance.

-_Well, do something!- _he told her using telepathy.

"Oh, did I say magic? Sorry, I meant it worked like magic, you know magic as in _like_ magic, not magic as in magic as a _skill_," Emi forced a laugh.

"Oh," Asuna said, embarrassed. "Sorry," she added.

"Don't worry about it! just a little misunderstanding that's all," Emi told her.

Asuna nodded.

"So… what's that stuff taste like anyway?" Maou asked as Emi took a swig from the flask.

"See for yourself," she told him and pulled a bottle from her inventory.

Asuna's eyes widened as she caught a glance at the screen. Emi had thousands of the potion. Emi tossed Maou the crystal flask. Maou caught it, and dropped it on the table.

"No, you idiot, I cant have this! It would be fatal to my-" Maou caught himself, his eyes latching on Asuna, who seemed rather confused.

Maou cleared his throat.

"Um… no thanks, I couldn't accept this. It belongs to you," he told her and tossed it back to Emi.

She forced a laugh. "Right, of course," she told him, and put it back into her inventory.

Asuna's gaze shifted from Maou to Emi. Why would she take it back when she had so much of the stuff? Something about this wasn't adding up…

Maou laughed nervously. His gaze shifted to the clock.

"Wow, look at the time! We should probably get to bed," Maou said. He blinked, remembering that they had forgotten to give Asuna a room.

"Just a second, I'll be right back," Maou said, and stood. He walked over to the front counter, and rang the bell. A man with dark circles under his eyes walked up and forced a smile.

"Hey, I would like to rent a room real quick," Maou told him. the man blinked, and pointed at the board behind his head. Maou raised an eyebrow. No vacancy. He sighed, and walked back to the table.

"Sorry Asuna… there're no rooms available," Maou told her and sat down.

"No problem, you can crash with me. They gave me two beds anyway, so it won't be a problem," Emi told her.

"Thank you," Asuna said quietly.

"If you're tired, I could show you where the room is," Emi offered, and began to stand before Maou quickly grabbed her sleeve.

"Um… actually, Kirito, Emi's room is next to yours right? Would you mind taking Asuna there, the four of us need to have a little talk," Maou said with a smile. Emi sighed, and tossed Kirito the keys.

"Just don't break anything," she added.

Kirito nodded and stood.

Maou waited until they were started up the stairs before walking outside. The other three followed him as he turned into an alleyway.

"What is it, sire?" Ashiya asked Maou. Maou closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"We have to go and fight the boss now," he said, and turned to face the others.

"What? Are you _crazy?"_ Emi asked. He met her eyes.

"You think that no-one will get hurt if we allow the humans to fight with us? We won't be able to use our magic if we're surrounded by people, or we would be constantly hunted. Did you hear that speech that that dude gave right after the meeting? People hate beta testers because they have a tiny advantage. Do you have any idea how they would react if they found out the game-master is giving us free stuff, and that we have magical abilities? Besides, if we can unleash on the thing, we could defeat it without anyone having to get hurt," Maou told Emi.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Yeah, and what about Asuna? By your logic there's no way we could take her with us, and we cant just ditch her!" Emi told him.

"We wait until she's asleep then slip out without her noticing," Maou suggested.

Emi rolled her eyes.

"yeah… and the people who are going to try and fight the thing? What are they going to do when they find out someone beat them to it?" Emi asked him.

"They don't need to know, besides if we don't do this, people could die!" Maou shouted. Emi scanned Maou's expression. She took a deep breath.

"Fine," she said finally. Maou nodded.

"Meet down here at midnight. We're not going to lose,"

/

"Well, here you are," Kirito told Asuna as she walked into the room.

She approachedthe window and stared out at the sky.

Kirito started to close the door when she stopped him.

"Wait… come in," she said, and turned to face him. He hesitated before walking into the room and closing the door behind him.

"You know that feeling when you think someone is hiding something?" she asked.

Kirito stiffened. "Um… Yeah, I guess," he answered.

She nodded. Her eyes drifted to the street below the window as she saw Maou and the others walking into an alleyway. She frowned. "Hey, do you know what they're saying down there?" she asked, as the group began speaking.

Kirito swallowed, and sat down next to Asuna. He caught words like 'humans' and 'magic'. Probably a demon esc. conversation.

"No, sorry," he lied.

"Oh. Sorry, I was just wondering. My listening skill isn't very high," Asuna told him. "I wonder what the fight tomorrow is going to be like," she commented.

"Yeah," Kirito said.

"So, your guild sure is an odd bunch," Asuna told him.

Kiritos ears pricked up. "Why do you say that?" he asked nervously.

"Well they certainly seem like they've been through a lot together, though I guess that's not really abnormal… but they seem kinda mysterious, you know?" she told him.

He shrugged. "They're really quite normal when you get to know them," Kirito lied.

Asuna shrugged. Someone opened the door.

Kirito turned to see Emi.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am _fried!_ Lets get to bed, okay?" Emi asked and smiled.

Kirito stood, and left the room. He turned down the hall, and pulled out the key to his door. He opened it, his gaze drifting to a small piece of paper someone had slid under the crack. He frowned and picked it up.

Hey, Kirito, listen, meet us down at the alley on the left of the inn at midnight. DO _**NOT**_ tell Asuna. We'll fill you in on the way, oh, and make sure you have your sword.

Signed,

Emi, Maou, and Ashiya.

Oh, and Lucifer.

See you there.

Bring his sword? And why shouldn't he tell Asuna? He frowned, slightly confused. He took a glance out his window at the alley. He then turned to look at the clock. 10:43. He sighed, and summoned his sword to his hand. If anything… he was curious.

_(hello everyone, I wanted to thank you for reading, I really appreciate it. Please review, I love hearing what you guys think! I know I've said this before, but comments always feel more important to me than any number.)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Suzuno glanced at the paper with the building's address on it as she walked down the street. She spotted the factory in front of her, and proceeded to walk inside. She ran for the stairs, and leapt up them. She found herself inside a control booth. Various switches and levers covered the walls. She continued down the hallway, when the area around her seemed to darken. The ground under her shattered. Her eyes widened as she found herself falling. Her back hit the hard marble stone. She coughed up a little blood, and propped herself up by her elbow. The air seemed to seep out of her lungs as she looked up at the council of the church. Her pupils descended as she noticed angels perched in the corners of the room, watching her every move. Her eyes fixed on Sariel. _

_He smiled as he read her terrified expression. Then someone hit the floor next to her. She turned, and saw Emi, her eyes dead and lifeless, blood dripping from her mouth. Suzuno covered her mouth with her hand, and dragged herself over to her fallen friend. She shook Emi by the shoulder. She was cold as ice. Tears streamed down Suzuno's cheeks. Then Maou hit the floor, followed by Ashiya and Lucifer. Suddenly, she was surrounded by the sensation of dropping. _

Suzuno jerked up, her eyes wild. She took deep breaths, sweat beading her face. Sunlight poured into her room. She touched her hand to her flower hair clip out of habit. Her heartbeat began to slow. Suzuno leapt out of bed, and grabbed her phone. She dialed Chiho's number, her thumbs sweaty. She touched the phone to her ear as she heard the phone ringing.

Her ears pricked up as Chiho picked up.

"_Hello?" _Chiho asked groggily.

"Hello, it is Suzuno. I called to ask how Emi and the others are doing," Suzuno said. Chiho frowned, and got out of bed, walking to the infirmary.

"I think they should be okay…" She trailed off, and stopped in front of the door. She caught the nurse's eye. The nurse smiled, and gave her a thumbs up.

"They're alive," Chi answered.

Suzuno sighed, feeling her heartbeat slow. Then someone knocked on her door. Suzuno jumped, turning towards the noise. She looked through the peephole, and saw the huge figure of the landlady. Suzuno's eyes widened, as she opened the door.

"Mikitty? I didn't forget to pay my rent, did I miss?" Suzuno asked, worried.

"Oh, of course not dear! I was just checking in on you, you know with everything that's been happening around here, and I would just hate for anything to happen to you," Mikitty told Suzuno. Suzuno sighed, relieved. The landlady smiled and walked past Suzuno into the room.

"Although… I suppose there _was _something, it seems that Mr. Sadou's room has become quite a mess without anyone to clean it, would you be a dear and take care of it?" the land lady asked. Suzuno nodded.

"I would be obliged," Suzuno answered.

"Thank you dear," Mikitty said and smiled before walking back out the room. Suzuno sighed.

Suzuno dug her palms into the cloth, trying to work off the thick layer of dust that had settled on the floor. She wrung her cloth out into the bucket, and moved over to the table. She picked up Emi's bag, and was going to move it to the counter when the strap slipped out from her wet and clammy hand. She tried to catch it, but couldn't grab it. It hit the floor, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Suzuno cursed herself, and opened the purse, emptying it on the counter. She frowned, noticing a silvery liquid that had formed in the bottom of the bag. She rubbed some between her fingers. Her ears pricked up and a shiver ran up her spine as it sank in.

She had felt that feeling somewhere before… could it be… celestial force?

Suzuno picked up a label, and began to read over it. The front was in Japanese… but the back appeared to be written in Enta Islan. She read over it, finding instructions on dosage. Her eyes fixed on a small word that read, _celestial force. _Suzuno hesitated. Emi had liquid celestial force? Suzuno's thoughts trailed back to the interrogation. She didn't have enough power to read his mind at her current state… but if she could get her hands on more of this stuff…

Suzuno picked up Emi's things, and placed them back in the bag before wiping the broken glass into a trash bag with a cloth. Suzuno picked out Emi's keys. She slung the bag over her shoulder, and walked out the door, and cautiously down the stairs, gripping the railing. Suzuno needed a cab… or… her eyes fixed on Maou's bike. She shrugged. He would never have to know. She hopped on the bike, and peddled down the road.

(*SAOOOOOOOOOOOOO*)

Emi stared at the ceiling of her room. She caught a glance at Asuna, fast asleep. Emi looked up at her clock.

It was already 11:30. There was no way she was going to get any sleep anyway, she thought, and looked at the crack of light seeping out from the crack under her door. She sat up, and went to the bathroom. Carefully closing the door she stared at herself in the mirror.

Moonlight illuminated her green eyes. She sighed, and sat down on the toilet. She clicked on her inventory, and began exploring it, looking for any other items from Malacoda that she might have missed. She frowned, and clicked on her battle helmet. It weighed down her hands as it formed. She remembered attacking the Devil wearing this.

He had left a dent in the digital version also. Her eyes softened. She found it unbelievable how accurately Malacoda had remembered her armor. She let the helmet dissolve into pixilated light in her fingertips. Emi summoned some celestial force from her inventory, and popped open the bottle. She swirled it around in the moonlight before draining it. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, and stood. It was probably too early to drink it again, but she couldn't afford to be lacking any power right now. She doubted that Malacoda would even know about the negative side affects that this stuff had, so why would having too much affect her in this world?

Emi went back to her inventory, and scrolled down the list. She stopped at her armor. She clicked on it, and allowed it to form on her body. She looked at herself in the mirror, and stiffened. The breath seemed to seep out of her lungs as she saw that where the crest of the church had been… the inverted cross was stamped on her chest. A heavy lump formed in her throat. She could almost hear Malacoda chuckling in her ear. She clenched her fists. Why did this even bother her? She had been betrayed by Olba, attacked by Sariel, and they quite clearly represented the will of the church. Maybe it was the nagging feeling that a couple years ago, if she had seen that she would be bearing that mark on her chest, she would have likely been disgusted with herself. She was part of Maou's guild… why shouldn't she wear his crest? Her hand went to her braid. A symbol of the church. Her eyes narrowed. She went back to her inventory, and clicked 'accessories'. Her hand wrapped around a long chain necklace, a charm with a pentagram printed on it. Emi undid her braid, and pinned the top of the chain in her hair. She proceeded to redo her braid, the chain entwined with a lock of her hair. The small charm flickered in the moonlight. She glanced at the time, 11:48. She walked out the bathroom, and looked at Asuna, still asleep. Her eyes softened. She opened the door, and closed it behind her. She walked down the stairs, and across the dining room. She threw open the double doors, and took a deep breath of the chilled midnight air. Emi turned down the alley, surprised to see Maou and Ashiya already there. Maou looked up at her.

"Is Asuna still asleep?" Maou asked.

"Yeah, last I saw her," Emi told him. Ashiya took a glance at Emi's armor, his eyes latching on the demon crest.

"That is a very nice symbol," he commented. Emi stiffened. Maou looked at the symbol and frowned. His gaze shifted to the chain in her hair with the pentagram charm on it.

((Irl!))

Malacoda stared at the screen, propping a cigarette between his lips. He had to say, he was rather surprised when the young hero had decided to add another symbol of the devil's army to her outfit. The demon king must have done a good job at gaining her respect. He sneered. The hero was a fool, and a puppet from any angle you looked at her. The screen began to go blurry. He scowled, and slammed his hand against the keypad, frustrated. No damn Wi-Fi. He looked at the roof of the tent he had set up. He could feel his surge of magic being cut off. Malacoda groaned, and stood. He stepped out of the large canvas tent, into the cave he had blown into the side of the mountain. He lifted off the ground, and floated to the antenna he had set up on the top of the cave. He frowned, and saw that a cable had somehow become loose. He plugged it back in, and let himself drift back down to the ground. Malacoda stepped back into the tent, and tapped on his mouse to see if that had taken care of the problem. The screen woke up. He rebooted the program, and waited it for it to load. He sighed, and put his hands behind his head before collapsing to the ground. His gaze fixed on the collection of papers attached to a pin board, concerning the devil. He had also formulated several ways to kill all of them if necessary. He grinned.

"Tell me, _Maou, _Exactly what are you planning for this world?" he said to no one in particular. The demon king clamed to have nothing but noble intentions for this world, but Malacoda didn't buy it for a second. His ears pricked up at something outside.

"Hmm?" he said in his throat at the sound of something walking into the cave. Malacoda stood, and stepped out of the tent. He looked up at a full grown grisly bear crawling into the cave. He sighed, and summoned some green magic to his hand. The bear stood on its hind legs and roared.

"_I don't like bears," _Malacoda hissed. He threw his arms forward, a huge blast of magic extending from his palms. The green light from the gigantic cannon of energy left afterimages in his eyes. He could only see the shadows of his arms after about twenty seconds. He put his hands down, realizing that he might have gone overkill. The treetops for as far as his eyes could see had been blown clean off, and left burning. He slumped, using that much energy finally taking a toll on him. Then the antenna fell from the cave ceiling, scorched and burning. He blinked.

"Damn it,"

(()540())

Asuna rolled in her sleep. _She was in the forest… there were terrible monsters attacking her._ She clutched the covers. _Her health bar dropped lower and lower. It finally reached zero. She opened her eyes, in her room. Then she felt the headgear attack her brain._ Her stomach dropped as she screamed, and sat bolt upright in bed, in a cold sweat. Her heart pounded in her head.

"Hey, Emi?" she said, her vision spotted in the darkness. No answer. She sighed, and flicked the bedside light on to comfort herself. The hair on the back of her neck rose. Emi wasn't in her bed. Asuna jumped out from under the covers, and ran to the bathroom, and knocked on the door. It slid open, empty. Asuna frowned, worried. She changed into her cape and armor before waking into the hallway. She stepped back into her doorway as she saw Lucifer step out of his room. Her eyes narrowed. He had somehow grown wings. Weird… she didn't remember him getting those. Lucifer sighed, and walked down the stairs, unaware of Asuna behind him. He stepped outside, and walked into the alley. Emi met his eyes.

"You do realize what a pain it is to have to wait this long for you, right?" she asked, annoyed.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Nice satanism you got going there," He commented on Emi's armor. Emi was about to give a retort, when Ashiya interjected.

"How dare you use sarcasm towards the context of worship upon his liege!" He shouted.

"Well, we already lost twenty minutes thanks to Mr. time efficient here, so we should probably get going." Maou suggested.

Lucifer sighed at the retorts, not able to muster up enough energy to respond.

"Agreed," Ashiya said.

Asuna leaned against the wall as they walked down the road. Her eyebrows were knit together as she clutched herself.

Were they joking? She remembered Maou being insulted by the reference to a 'big fat red devil'. She stiffened. This made all too much sense. She covered her face with her hood, and walked down the road, following the rest of the guild.

(((irl)))

Malacoda held the antenna awkwardly over his head, his eyes fixed on the screen. He didn't have time to fix it back on the top of the cave, and he was not going to miss this boss fight. He zoomed out on the image. His gaze fixed on Asuna's name. He touched his finger to his lip. Well, this would mean trouble. He laughed a little. He liked his life.

/

Suzuno stopped in front of Emi's apartment, slid the key in, and cautiously opened the door. She opened the pantry, and found tons of boxes with the same label as the 'energy drink'. She opened one of the boxes, and picked up a small bottle of the energy drink. She read the back. She could only have two daily… no matter. She unscrewed it, and drained it. She carefully placed the bottle in the glass recycling. Before leaving, she opened Emi's bag, and stuffed as many bottles of the stuff as she could fit. Suzuno had to admit. She was starting to lose her composure, stealing like this.

It was all for Emi and the others, Suzuno told herself. Suddenly something started buzzing in Emi's bag. Suzuno frowned, and fished out a phone, inside it's own pocket. She clicked a green button, answering.

"_Hello? Emi? Thank god, why aren't you returning my calls or coming to work anymore?! What happened?" _Rika shouted into the phone. Suzuno cringed, and held the phone away from her.

"This is Suzuno," She said into the device. Rika hesitated.

"_Can I speak to Emi?"_ She asked. Suzuno swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Unfortunately, that will not be possible. Emi is trapped inside of what is referred to as SAO," Suzuno tried to stop her voice from cracking. Rika didn't respond. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"_I thought that might be it," _she said quietly.

"_Its just… is she dead? Is she going to be all right?" _ Rika asked, her voice trembling.

"She is alive, as of yesterday," Suzuno replied.

"_Oh," _Rika said. She hung up the phone. Suzuno flipped the phone closed. She sighed, and stuffed the phone in the purse, tears rimming her eyes. She stepped out of the apartment, locking the door behind her, and walked down the hall. She pushed the door open, and walked outside. She jumped on Maou's bike, and sped down the road, the celestial force in her system fueling her.

(((SAO)))

Lucifer hovered over the others as they walked up the many stairs towards the boss room. His sword dangled below him from his arm. No one was in a very talkative mood. He caught a glance out a glass window. They were very high up. The others stopped walking. Lucifer looked up to see a huge pair of double doors.

"So… do we have a plan?" Lucifer asked.

"We didn't have a plan fighting you, but we still won that fight with one blow from Maou," Emi commented.

"Valid point," Lucifer replied.

Maou crossed his arms. "How much magic do we all have?" he asked.

"Well, almost everyone I've met in this world has been dripping in fear, so a lot," Lucifer answered.

Emi ran her armored finger down her braid.

"I have more celestial force than even in Enta Isla. And I almost killed you one on one with that much power," Emi added.

Maou focused on Kirito.

"I'm in good shape to fight… but I still probably shouldn't be on the front lines," he answered.

"I agree. Malacoda gave you plenty of healing crystals, am I right? If someone gets hurt, it will be your job to save them, understand?" Maou asked.

Kirito nodded.

Asuna bit the inside of her cheek. So they did have magic. And… judging by Lucifer's wording, fear had something to do with their power. Asuna watched carefully as the group pushed open the double doors.

Lucifer latched his eyes on the gigantic red kangaroo thing.

Maou met his eyes. "_Those are ears. Not horns," _He whispered, annoyed.

Lucifer disregarded Maou as the beast screamed at them. He sheathed his sword, and shot magic at its minions as they ran towards the group. He took two of them down, and the other one was thrown to the side by Emi's sword. It howled, and hit the wall hard. The other two dissolved. Maou summoned his Magic, and took his true form. He grew in size, horns curling from his head.

Asuna watched them from the door. Terror took hold in her heart. It strengthened as a small black stream of magic ran from her. It was her fear, she realized as it strengthened.

Maou felt the sudden addition to his magic. He looked over his shoulder, and spotted Asuna. He paled as it registered all she had seen.

Kirito followed Maou's gaze, and spotted Asuna. "Get out of here now!" he shouted desperately.

Asuna took a step away from the door, debating what to do.

"I said get out of here!" Kirito shouted again. She looked at him in time to see one of the three minions recover, and lunge at Kirito. She threw herself into the room, and blocked the minion, throwing it across the room. Her cloak dissolved. Asuna summoned her sword, and took a deep breath. That blow wouldn't have killed him… but that was a good move on Asuna's part. Asuna killed the minion with one blow from her sword. She glanced behind her, a look of concern and fear knit into her expression. Her eyes drifted towards the boss.

"Don't. Trust me, we would be most useful on the sidelines," Kirito promised her.

Asuna nodded. She followed Kirito to the far side of the boss room.

Kirito squatted down, prepared to jump up and heal someone if they needed.

Asuna looked at the battle. She wanted an explanation once this was over.

Maou hovered over the boss, and sliced a huge amount of magic at him. The creature was flung to the ground. Emi threw herself forward, and forced her blade into his neck. The monster went down to its last health bar. It stood up, and switched to a huge sword. Lucifer continued sniping at it with magic from his perch in the air. It scowled, and swung the blade at him, swatting him out of the air. He was flung to the ground, skidding across the marble floor.

(()IRL())

Malacoda had managed to fix the antenna to his head, so he wouldn't have to alternate between hands. He had set himself up with a box of cigarettes, and a large bowl of ice cream with strawberries in it. He placed his cigarette down, and took a spoonful of ice cream as he saw Kirito throw a healing crystal at Lucifer. It hit him in the head, dropping his health a little bit lower. Lucifer grumbled and grabbed it where it had fallen, reviving himself.

Maybe he shouldn't have given the kid so many healing crystals. That made it too easy. But quite frankly, he had no idea what else he would have wanted. Malacoda heard something outside the tent again. He chose to ignore it, not wanting to miss anything and certainly not wanting to set up the wifi again. A pair of park rangers crawled into the cave. They spotted the tent, and pulled out their guns. They cautiously walked towards the structure, and pulled open the flap. Malacoda looked up at them.

"…" One of them said as he registered the man in front of him. Malacoda went back to the battle, ignoring the officers.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND GET OUT OF THE TENT!" One of them shouted. Malacoda threw a strawberry at him. It hit him between the eyes.

"Go… away," Malacoda said.

The ranger's eye twitched. "I SAID GET OUT HERE!" he shouted, and kicked the antenna off of Malacoda's head.

The screen went black.

Malacoda narrowed his eyes, and met the officers gaze. He stood, and put his arms out. A huge surge of magic erupted from his hands. The rangers shouted, as the magic consumed them. The beam widened the entrance of the cave as the explosion of magic erupted from the side of the mountain. Malacoda scowled, and sat back down

"_I don't like humans," _He said to himself, and tried to find the position he was in before, re-adjusting the antenna. After a few minutes, the screen adjusted back to the battle. He pressed a strawberry between his lips. Maou had quite a bit of magic… But that was to be expected. Ashiya hit the beast's weak points while Maou attacked the thing more directly, blocking its attacks with his massive sword. The boss fell back, yowling, and began to dissolve.

Malacoda smiled. The black cloak formed in Maou's hand. Maou's eyes softened. It was over. He let himself melt back to his human form, and walked over to Asuna and Kirito. He tossed the cloak to Kirito. Kirito frowned, letting it fall into his open hands.

"I… I don't deserve this," Kirito said, and tried to give it back to Maou.

"Hmm? Because I personally think that Lucifer would disagree," Maou commented.

Lucifer pursed his lips and shrugged.

Kirito smiled a little.

Asuna stared back up at Maou, frustrated. Maou sighed, and displayed the 'join guild' option to Asuna.

Asuna's ears pricked up, surprised. "But… why?"

"Simple. Asuna, at this point, you know way too much, so we could either keep you close, or kill you," He answered.

The hair on the back of Asuna's neck pricked up. Her heart seemed to drop. She suddenly felt ashamed. Because of her, they would have to drag her along. She looked at the ground, and clicked accept. Kirito tried to meet her eye. He smiled at her, but she wouldn't look up.

"Oh, and Asuna?" Maou added.

She slowly looked up at him.

He tossed her another cloak similar to her old one.

"If you can stalk the devil and go undetected with something like that, then there's no reason to feel useless," he added. Asuna smiled a little. That was what she needed to hear. She looked up at a message that had appeared.

_Congratulations!_

_You have cleared the level, you may now _

_Proceed to the next floor in Aincrad!_

Kirito smiled at her. "Welcome to the guild,"

_Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it! I know, I decided to make Kayaba/Malacoda an OC, and I am very sorry if you don't like that decision. I was a little unsure about showing him so soon, but I thought having another character would add to the story. Please review! REVIEW I SAY! Follow/favorite for more!_


	6. Chapter 6

Suzuno sighed, and collapsed on her bed. She fished out a bottle of celestial force, and began to scan through the label on the back, just in case she had missed something. Slowly her eyes tightened as she reread the dosage limitations. What would happen if she did take too much? She asked herself. Suzuno shrugged the question off. Best not to test it. Suzuno stood, and walked out of her bedroom, eyes shaded. She slowed as she walked past the door to Maou's apartment.

Orange sunlight bled through the window, the sun sinking over the horizon barely visible from behind a thick layer of clouds.

Suzuno cringed, and continued out onto the stairwell outside. She walked down the wooden steps, gripping the railing, her palms sweaty. Her wooden sandals touched the soft dirt. She stood there for a moment, thinking back to when she had fallen down the stairs on her first day of residence. Maou had been there to catch her. Suzuno cursed herself, and wrinkled her nose, as she strode over to Dulahan, Maou's bike. He wasn't using it right now anyway. Suzuno dragged it out from under the stairs, and hopped on it. She frowned, her sandals not fitting over the pedals properly. She stood from the bike, and kicked off the shoes, before bending down and picking them up, tossing them into the small wire basket in the front of the bike. Suzuno hopped back on, shifting around in her kimono until it felt comfortable. She started peddling, and driving onto the road. She grit her teeth, balance uneasy. It was time to interrogate some people.

Lucifer followed Maou, as he walked down the dirt road, towards the forest.

Emi sighed and crossed her hands behind her head. "Shouldn't we be exploring… I don't know, the level we just unlocked?" Emi asked.

Maou turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "We don't want people to know that we were the ones to defeat the boss, now do we? If we're caught already exploring the next level, we might as well shout 'hey! We're an in-human guild who knows the game master, so he gives us free stuff! Hate us, please!'"

Asuna and Kirito exchanged a glance.

"Mostly in-human," Maou corrected himself.

Emi blew a strand of hair out of her face. "I see your point," she said, still rather unhappy about having to contain her curiosity for the time being.

"What should we say when the other players go to the boss room and find that there's no boss?" Lucifer asked.

Maou placed a thumb on his lip. "They'll probably blame that Diabel guy, and say that he was wrong about the location of the boss room. Though, if we really want to cover our tracks, we might want to show up to the battle anyway," Maou suggested.

"Think we can still make it?" Lucifer asked, and glanced back at the tower.

"Doubtful. It's not worth it. We can just say that we chickened out. Surely we won't be the only people who don't show," Maou told him, following his gaze to look at where the boss room had been.

"Agreed," Lucifer said, and opened his menu, to check his clock.

"Hey, so you guys are in here to collect fear, right?" Kirito asked.

"Well, the demons are," Emi told him, arms crossed.

"In that case… do you think we should try to get Malacoda to turn our icons red?" he asked.

Lucifer turned to look at him, suddenly interested.

"I mean, if we want to scare people, convincing them that we're murderers might be a good way to start. Then you guys may have enough magic to beat this game! Once and for all!" Kirito proposed.

The guild grew very quiet.

"Depends. We would want to be able to turn it on and off, I would think. If the people around us refuse to interact with the guild, it could cause a lot of complications, especially as far as obtaining any useful information. Like, where the next boss room is, for example. On the other hand… we honestly don't want any more humans to figure out our little… 'Secret'. Scaring them away with such a warning may be a good idea," Maou said, thinking aloud.

"I honestly think that it would be kind of stupid. If someone sees us in the woods with a red icon, then at the inn with a green one, rumors might start to spread. We really don't want that, especially if we're trying to stay under the radar. They might think we've figured out some hack or something. Even worse, they realize were in cahoots with the programmer. They may even attack us out of a sense of justice or something. Anyway, it may scare some people, but I doubt it's worth it," Asuna declared.

The whole guild turned to look at her.

That was the most she had said since she had joined them.

"Asuna's right. It's more trouble than it's worth," Emi commented, glancing at Maou, partially preparing an argument.

"True. I doubt we could even manage to convince Malacoda to give us that kind of power. I mean, say we do kill someone. Would we still have the ability to turn it on and off? At any rate, it's just too risky," Maou decided.

Asuna smiled a little, proud of herself. She glanced up as the trail became shaded from the sunset, the group continuing to walk under a thick group of trees, and into the forest.

Maou's ears pricked up as he heard something growling, and running through the trees at him. Maou flicked his sword towards the creature, and before even being able to recognize what the thing was, demolished it.

Emi stiffened, not even sure what had exactly even happened.

"Any items?" Lucifer asked.

"Nothing," Maou replied, glancing at his inventory to see if any new items had been added to it. Like he had said, nothing.

"What was the thing?" Emi asked.

"No idea," he replied honestly, and continued down the trail.

Asuna shivered, crossing her arms under her cloak. She shook her head to flick her hood flicked back to reveal her face and hair. She glanced around her nervously, afraid that there might be more of whatever had just attacked Maou… and that she might not be as lucky.

Emi slowed her pace so that she could walk next to Asuna. "What is this place's problem anyway? Monsters who attack the devil himself? This game is more messed up then I thought," She said, eyes closed with her arms crossed behind her head. She opened her eyes a little, and glanced at Asuna to see her reaction to the joke.

Asuna pursed her lips, staring at the ground.

Emi's mouth wrinkled into an awkward smile. "I mean, he deserves anything they dish out on him! It's just kind of ironic, is all!" she tried to smooth over anything she might of said to offend the player.

Asuna forced a bit of a laugh, not really in the mood to make jokes.

Emi chuckled a little, deciding to try and change the subject. "What's your favorite and least favorite kind of monster? In the game I mean," Emi said, playing it off cool best she could.

"I really don't like those giant toad things," Asuna said. She hesitated, trying to think of a monster she liked. "The Lilac creatures are kind of pretty… and they usually drop pretty useful stuff," she recalled.

"Yeah, though the best kind of monster is a dead monster, am I right? That's what they told me back in Etna Isla, at least," Emi said, attempting another bit of dark humor.

Asuna smiled, and stared up at the leaves above them. "This place is beautiful at night, isn't it? There are so many stars in the sky. I lived in the city in real life, so you only got a star or two at night, if you were lucky,"

Emi followed her gaze, and stared up at a large cluster of stars. In Etna Isla, that constellation was referred to as Canis Major. Was the same in the human world? She asked herself, realizing she hadn't gotten to do any stargazing since she came through the gate.

"Tell me more about Etna Isla. It sounds interesting," Asuna suggested.

Emi sighed. "It's pretty much anything you could find out of your typical fantasy novel, I suppose. My job was to eliminate the devil… or Maou. I was called the hero, but I guess you probably already picked up on that. The church had more power than anyone there, with the inquisition on their side. Actually, I've been starting to pick up on a few signs that SAO was based on the place… starting with the currency. There are another few noticeable similarities… but I guess that Malacoda thought he could get away with that kind of thing, because as far as he knew, no-one from Etna Isla would be here. It's kind of funny, I suppose,"

Asuna stared at the ground, her eyebrows knitting together in an expression of pity. "Do you think Malacoda did this because he was homesick?" she asked.

Emi thought about it for a second before briskly responding with, "No. He did it to gain power. This place is like a giant generator for fear, or the magic he feeds on. If he wanted to go home, he could have by now," Emi announced. A thought suddenly hit her. What if Malacoda had gone back to Etna Isla? The church might as well have won the war, as far as they know. If Malacoda went back, it would be the perfect chance for him to launch a surprise attack.

_But he still doesn't have his army-. _Emi reminded herself. What did she care anyway? It would be great if he overtook the church! Emi swallowed, feeling a deep sense of self-betrayal.

Emi's eyebrows crept up on her forehead, a miserable expression forming on her face.

Asuna frowned as she read the hero's emotions. She bit her lip, and smiled, trying to reassure her friend.

Emi glanced up at Asuna, and grinned, pushing away her depressing thoughts.

Maou narrowed his eyes as he spotted something in the woods next to him. He strained his eyes, ears pricking up as he heard a wail echo from the area.

The rest of the guild turned towards the sound.

Maou felt more fear sink into his skin. He didn't make a noise as he ran towards the sound, feeling like it was familiar for some reason.

Lucifer was the next to follow him, the rest of the guild trailing after their leader.

Maou narrowed his eyes as he made out a girl, collapsed on the ground, with several huge monsters teaming up on her.

The girl…

"CHIHO!" Maou shouted, and picked up the pace.

The girl cringed, and turned towards the voice. Her eyes widened as she made out a black aura begin to surround the player.

Maou teleported forwards, above one of the monsters. He sliced his sword at it, making it dissolve into pixilated light. He then began flashing around to the other monsters, ricocheting between them like a bullet.

The girl managed to stand, trembling with effort, her heart pounding.

Maou took shallow breaths, glancing around him, eyes wild, searching for other monsters. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and turned back to who he believed to be Chi. His eyes softened in disappointment as he got a good look at her face. "You're not…" Maou cringed a little bit.

Silica felt her heart become heavy. "Thank you for saving me," she said quietly. Tears welled up in her eyes as she collapsed to her knees, gripping a small feather in her hands, the only thing that was left of her pet lizard.

Lucifer stopped in front of Maou, glancing down at the girl.

The others collected behind him.

Kirito made his way in front of the crowd, and crouched next to the girl. He flipped through his inventory, and pulled out one of his many, _many_ healing crystals, and placed it in her had.

Silica's eyes softened. She shook her head, and tried to force it back in his hand, But Kirito refused.

"I don't need it, trust me," he told her.

Silica wiped some tears off her cheeks and slowly stood. "Thank you for saving me. I was stupid to think that I could make it through the forest alone," She said quietly.

Maou smiled a little. "It's no problem," he told her.

Silica clutched her feather, and began to cry again. "Pinna…" she trailed off into a sob.

Kirito frowned a little, realizing what must have happened. His gaze shifted across the other members of his guild. Quietly, he slipped behind some bushes, and made his way out of earshot from the other players. He glanced behind him to be sure he hadn't been followed, and bent down on one knee, placing his clasped together hands on his forehead, in a prayer position. "Malacoda. I have a request. If you truly are listening to me at this moment, then please, give me a revival item, to save the girl's pet," he said. He took a shallow breath, and slowly opened his eyes. Kirito lifted his head and glanced at his menu. He had a new message. Hands sweaty, he clicked on the mail icon, and then opened the message.

_No prob. But, you'll have to give up a hundred of your healing crystals. _

_I seriously gave you way too many of those things. –_

_God. (Malacoda.((Kayaba?)))_

_Here's the link to trade for the given amount. _

_You're welcome. _

Kirito sighed a little in relief, and clicked on the link, accepting the trade. He then went to his inventory, and found the new revival item. He clicked on it, and made his way back to the other members of the group.

"What'cha doin?" Urushihara asked.

Kirito decided not to answer him, at least not in front of Silica. He bent down, and offered her the revival item. "Take it. It can bring your pet back to life," he told her, voice soft and comforting.

Silica's eyes widened. "It will?" she asked hopefully.

Kirito nodded a little.

Silica carefully took it out of his hands, weighing her options. "I could pay you back…" she offered, hoping that she would be able to afford it.

"I can't accept that. Keep it, it belongs to you now," Kirito told her.

Silica nodded, smiling joyfully, and popped open the bottle. She hesitated, before letting Kirito place the feather in the flask. Her eyes lit up as her lizard formed on her shoulder once again. She bowed her head, extremely grateful. "Please, if there is anything I can do to make it up to you…" Silica trailed off.

Kirito frowned, and glanced at her. This girl kinda reminded him of his sister… he shook the feeling off.

Rosalia frowned, and placed a thumb on her lip. She adjusted her feet under her from her perch in the tree, watching the new players interacting with Silica. "Well, this is an interesting new turn of events," she hissed to herself. Where did that kid get a revival item? And how could he afford to be so generous with it? Rosalia narrowed her eyes. This guild was definitely worth following up on.

"If you don't mind, we should probably be going now. Would you like an escort out of the woods?" Kirito asked.

Silica rang her hands together. "I wouldn't want to be any more of a bother…"

"If you're not comfortable with that, could I just give you a teleport crystal?" Kirito said.

"You would do that?" Silica asked as Kirito summoned the item to his hand.

"Sure. But maybe you should type my name into your contacts, just so that if something happens, you can call me, and I'll be able to find you easily," he suggested.

Silica nodded, and went to her contacts. She glanced at Kirito's name tag, before typing it carefully in.

"We'll keep in touch, okay?" Kirito asked.

Silica nodded and waved, a large smile on her face, before using the crystal to dissolve into pixilated light.

Lucifer glanced up at Kirito. "Being so friendly with her might come back to bite you, you know," he commented.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. If I can protect someone, then I want to at least try," He told the fallen angel.

Lucifer shrugged. "Whatever. But don't get too close to the girl. We don't want anyone else to be in on 'our little secret'," he reminded Kirito.

Rosalia bit her tongue, and shifted her weight. Who knew that following that little twerp into the woods would be so productive?

Maou glanced up at where Rosario was hiding.

She stiffened, and tapped her teleportation crystal, dissolving into light.

Maou narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" Emi asked, and tried to follow his gaze.

"There was someone there…" Maou hissed.

The whole guild turned to look at the tree.

"I have a bad feeling about this… assuming that they were there the whole time, why would they just watch that girl dying?" Emi asked.

Maou glanced at her before turning to scan the area around him. "Let's go," he said at last, and walked through the forest, eyes gleaming. He and his guild couldn't afford to run after every other human in this game to help them. He grit his teeth and scowled. His emotions had gotten the better of him. He wouldn't let himself let that happen again. Their lives were the first priority. And their secret was their second. 

(||IRL||)

"I am aware," Malacoda said over the phone to his colleague. "I'm going to have to relocate, humans keep finding the cave, and when I take care of them, more and more come to see what happened to those humans, and, and," Malacoda trailed off at the sound of helicopter blades outside the cave. "I'm going to have to call you back," he pressed a button on the phone, and flipped it shut in his hand, before standing, a green aura now beginning to surround him. The helicopter leveled with the cave, and shot a spot light into it. Malacoda squinted, and began to summon magic to his hand.

"Put your hands behind your head and lay down on the ground!" A man shouted from inside the copter with a megaphone.

Malacoda lunged forward, moving with the quick and aggressive steps of the demon he was. He vanished, and re-appeared, perching in front of the copter's windshield. He reached up, and let one of the helicopter blades slam into his hand, stopping it.

The man inside the helicopter cringed, heart racing as the copter began to plummet towards the ground. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked his partner as the man flung open the helicopter door, and jumped out, tumbling against the mountain side. The officer looked back at Malacoda in terror, The demon's eyes now glowing with an eerie green. _"Demon," _he whispered.

A small smile formed on Malacoda lips as he ripped the helicopter blade straight off the axis, and jumped back into the air as the helicopter crashed into the ground. He floated in the air, staring down at the crushed and smoking vehicle, unfazed. He landed back on the roof of the car.

The officer clutched the radio transmitter in his shaking hand. He pressed the button, a harsh cough coming from his mouth.

"Officer Redman? What is your report?" The head of Tokyo police asked.

"_The man… hiding in the mountain… -cough, cough,- he isn't… human…" _The officer managed.

The head of police stiffened, ears pricking up. "Officer Redman!" she shouted.

Malacoda crouched down, and picked up the transmitter by the cord, dragging it from the fallen officer's hand. He pressed the button, and in the most demonic voice he could muster hissed, _"Next time you try to peruse me, you better be sure as hell that you have a life insurance policy for your employees. That is all," _

The head of police stiffened as the line went dead. A shiver ran up her back, as her clutched hands began to tremble.

()*SAO*()

Asuna sighed, and collapsed on her bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she turned to look at Emi, who was scanning through her inventory. "Hey," she said.

Emi glanced at Asuna and smiled. "Hi! What is it?" she asked.

Asuna hesitated. "What did you think about Silica?" she asked and bit her lip.

Emi blinked and sat up. "Well… she certainly did remind me of an old friend I had in the real world," Emi's eyes glistened softly in the lantern light.

"Yeah… Kirito was certainly nice to her," Asuna said and sighed.

Emi hesitated. "Wait… do you… like him?" she asked.

Asuna stiffened. "I- I… I only just met the guy," she commented.

Emi laughed nervously. "Right… sorry about that…" she trailed off.

The two sat there in silence.

"Hey, do you want to practice sword work?" Emi asked.

Asuna looked back at the half angel, and nodded slightly.

Emi sat up, and equipped to her huge celestial sword and armor.

Asuna swallowed, realizing as she equipped her own items that Emi clearly had the advantage.

Emi blinked, reading her partner's expression, and shed her armor and sword. "If you want, you could have some of my weapons," she offered.

Asuna's eyes widened. "Really? You would do that?" she asked.

"My pleasure. Besides, I have plenty . And we're in a guild together, right? I wouldn't want a friend to die on me. Here, pick anything you want," Emi told her, and sat down on the bed, inviting Asuna to sit next to her.

Asuna folded her legs under her on the bed, and stared at the inventory list as Emi scrolled through it. "Wow, you have a lot of really nice things!" she commented.

"Thanks, I actually used to have most of this stuff in real life… well back in Etna Isla I mean," Emi told her.

Asuna didn't respond, and hesitated before pointing at a gold plated sword with silver engraved vines winding up the blade.

"That one? Sure!" Emi said and clicked on it, before handing the blade to Asuna.

Asuna weighed it in her hand. It felt perfect.

Emi tipped her head to the side. "Hey… do you think…"

Asuna turned to look at her.

Emi bit her lip.

Asuna frowned. "What is it?" she asked.

"Um… would you… like to try some celestial force?"

Asuna hesitated. "Celestial… force?"

"Yeah, it's basically magic in a bottle. Back in Etna Isla, humans could use it to fight... if you want I mean..."

"Yeah…" Asuna said and crossed her arms. "Yeah, I'd be willing to try it... could anything go wrong?"

Emi shifted her weight. "Well, I don't really know. It's supposed to be the opposite of magic, but because you're not a demon, I can't really think of any way it could hurt you."

Asuna tipped her head from side to side. "Sure. I'll try some!" she decided.

Emi went to her inventory, and double clicked the icon. Two bottles formed in her hands. She passed one to Asuna, and uncorked her own. "On the count of three?"

Asuna nodded, and popped open the flask.

"One…"

The two exchanged a glance.

"Two…" Asuna said.

"Three!" they said unison, and placed the rims of the bottles to their lips.

Asuna gasped, and placed the empty glass bottle down on the bed.

Emi finished hers quickly, and turned to Asuna in concern. "Are you okay?"

Asuna's irises began to shake a little as she clutched herself, surges of unfamiliar energy surging through her veins.

Emi kept a careful eye on Asuna's HP bar and summoned a healing crystal to her hand, just in case.

Asuna swallowed and slowly turned to face Emi. "I… I'm fine. Just a little… shocked," she said.

Emi sighed in relief and let her hand loosen around the healing crystal.

Asuna's eyes snapped to her menu as she saw that she had received a new item. She clicked on the icon, and covered her mouth with her hand as she saw that she had 2,000 bottles of celestial force.

Emi glanced over Asuna's shoulder, and blinked. "Wow! Seems like Malacoda gave you a present,"

"The game master?"

Emi nodded a little, smiling.

"Wow. So… what can I do particularly with celestial force?" Asuna asked.

Emi smiled. "A lot. In the past, I've used it to increase my battle strength, and fly. But try playing around with it, you might be surprised,"

Sweat beaded Asuna's forehead as she focused the new power to her palm. Her eyes light up as a small bead of golden light began to form in her palm. She smiled, eyes full of awe and wonder as she held her palm to her eyes.

"Be careful with it though…" Emi warned.

Asuna glanced up at her, and nodded, understanding. She clenched her hand again, and made the bead turn into light, and dissolve. She placed her hands together, placed them at her nose, and bowed to Emi. "Thank you so, so much," she offered.

"No problem! Just don't go over-dosing," she said.

Asuna frowned. "What is the dosage?" she asked.

Emi hesitated. "I can have two bottles a day… one in the morning, one in the afternoon… but I'm half angel, so I'm not sure the same rules apply to you. Just to be safe, you should probably stick to one bottle a day… at least for now."

Asuna bowed her head again. "I'm going to get to bed. It was a big day," Asuna said and stretched.

"Yeah. Well, see you in the morning," Emi said, and pulled the covers over her in a large swoop of her arm.

Asuna reached across her bed to blow out the candle and leaned back on the mattress. She smiled, and snuggled in under the heavy bed comforter. Suddenly… this virtual world was seeming to feel warmer.

_(COMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEENT!... please.)_


	7. Announcement

Hello, I would like to announce that this story will not be continued... by me. I am afraid that I have drifted out of the fan community for both universes. But, I would like to see it continue. If you are interested in continuing this story yourself, please email me an example of your work at bastet194 . I may add you as an author! Thank you for reading.

*Edit, the lovely CrimsonSonja has offered to begin working on the story, so with any luck, it will continue updating soon! Here is a link to her profile! u/2021901/CrimsonSonja


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